MBO Cinemas nationwide to hold blood drives
KUCHING: MBO Cinemas nationwide will hold blood drives next month in its third annual partnership with St John Ambulance.
Organisers are expecting to reach the target of 5,000 pints of blood at the event called Blood Donation Drive 3.0.
On Aug 5- 6, MBO Cinemas in Kedah and Johor will hold donation drives from 12pm to 6pm, while on Aug 6- 7 other MBO Cinemas in Malaysia will run their campaigns. Trained personnel from St John Ambulance will be on hand to assist blood bank staff.
“With this engaging charitable endeavour, MBO Cinemas hopes to further stamp our presence in the community, together with our core values of fun and entertaining, and yet meaningful community work,” said MBO Cinemas CEO Lim Eng Hee in a press release.
“This event will be a quintessential way of bringing people together under the banner of a common cause, promoting a sense of contribution and responsibility that in turn makes us all better human beings.”
St John Ambulance of Malaysia national secretary-general Datuk Yeo Kim Thong said he was pleased to see corporations such as MBO Cinemas taking an active interest in the community and hoped this effort would inspire more to come forward and contribute.
National Blood Centre director Dr Noryati Abu Amin added such efforts would help save many lives every day as well as raise awareness of the process of blood donation and giving back to the community.
MBO Cinemas will also donate RM10,000 to St John Ambulance as a token of appreciation for its assistance in this nationwide blood donation campaign.
Meanwhile, a press statement said following the recent fasting month and Hari Raya Aidilfitri holidays, it is timely for the blood drive to be held to ensure the availability of blood.
Blood donors will receive a goodie bag consisting of a free cinema ticket, MBO Cinemas movie merchandise, food, drinks and pharmaceutical gifts from MBO’s partners.
A ‘ teeth-in- cheek’ promotional video has also been created for all MBO cinemas, several weeks in advance to promote Blood Donation Drive 3.0 to audiences.
Last year MBO Cinemas and St John Ambulance collected 4,052 pints of blood – almost quadruple the 2014 collection of 1,065 pints. Under the tagline ‘1 Pint Saves 3 Lives’, the campaigns of the past two years have saved more than 15,000 lives.